What’s On: Matariki Marvels, A Street Party & More Good Things For The Long Weekend

This year’s coterie of Matariki events spans a thrumming Karangahape Rd street party, an immersive dance performance, and an illuminated walking trail.

See a reimagined performance

Choreographer and dancer Taane Mete (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Korokī Kahukura) is set to debut a brand-new performance this weekend at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, exclusively for Matariki. Marae in the Sky is an immersive dance and musical performance that draws inspiration from a Rainbow collective that was based on Lorne St in the 1990s, where communities were welcomed and supported in a cosy loft apartment. In the performance, Taisha Tari (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāpuhi) will sing waiata, Peau Halapua (Lapaha, Mu’a; and Hihifo, Niuatoputapu; Kingdom of Tonga) will play violin, while Mete performs. The original composition for the special showcase is by Josh Clark (Ngāpuhi). The performance will take place in the North Atrium on July 14 to 15 at 12pm to 12:40pm and 2pm to 2:40pm.

Party in the streets

Te Karanga a Hape will see the vibrant city centre street of Tāmaki Makaurau fill for a celebration before Matariki tomorrow, shutting down Karangahape Rd for a huge street party. From 3pm today, guests will be welcome to boogie, shop and party down K Rd. There will be puoro, mahinga toi, kākahu toi and kai — music, art, fashion and food — all the way across the street, celebrating the best that Auckland has to offer.

Explore multimedia installations

Anna Miles Gallery will open a new exhibition this Saturday, showcasing multi-media sculptures, wall hangings and installations from Tyrone Te Waa (Ngāti Tūwharetoa). The artist utilises wood, fabric, paint and string, melding them together through tangles and other methods of assembly. The technique produces some fascinating organic shapes, with bright pops of colour. The work is informed by the research of takatāpui/gay/queer histories in Aotearoa. The exhibition will be on display from July 15 to August 12, with a special opening taking place at 3pm on Saturday. The gallery will be open for viewings from 11am to 5pm on Wednesday to Friday, and from 11am to 3pm on Saturday (and is also available to view through appointment).

Peruse an exhibition

Shine a light on photography

Photographer and artist Luke Foley-Martin is currently showing an extended series of experimental darkroom pieces, in a follow-up to the last collection Staring into the Sun. Like that previous exhibition, this coffee shop showing houses photographic prints bursting with vibrant colours, with photographs of the sun overlaid with abstract darkroom-produced shapes. Radiant Solitude looks to approach the sun, a consistent light source for photographers, as the main subject, creating otherworldly images through an experimental process. Radiant Solitude will show at Rosie’s Café until August 21.

Walk an installation

Auckland’s centre city is dressing up for the occasion this weekend, with Tūrama returning for a second year. The installation sees large-scale lighting displays positioned through town, in locations that have particular historical significance, and a walking trail to follow through Shortland St, right up to Aotea Square. The exhibition was made in collaboration between tā moko and installation artist Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Manu), arts industry practitioner Ataahua Papa (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Ngāti Mahuta) and Angus Muir Design. The lights will be in the centre city from July 11 to August 20.

Head to a Q&A

The oncology research organisation Breast Cancer Trials is set to host a live Q&A at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum. Broadcaster Stacey Morrison will bring together a panel of experts to examine the issues, challenges and solutions relevant to Māori, Pasifika and Indigenous Australian communities in breast cancer research, diagnosis and treatment. The free Q&A is set to take place on July 26 from 5:30pm to 7pm and will be available to view online.

Book ahead

See contemporary dance

Atamira Dance Company will present a showing of Tomo, bringing the moving contemporary dance performance back to the stage after its debut in 2019. The piece explores the boundaries of time through movement, lighting and stage architecture. Tomo is directed by tuakana choreographer Gabrielle Thomas (Kāi Tahu, Te Atiawa ki te Tau Ihu), who says the showcase “started with the whakapapa of light and darkness”. Recently, a filmed version was shown as a virtual reality film experience in Auckland and Vancouver, as well as the NZ Doc Edge Festival XR Exhibition. Tomo will tour Tāmaki Makaurau, Whangārei and Kirikiriroa from August 3 to 19.

Book in for fashion awards

The Hokonui Fashion Design Awards are set to kick off in Gore this July, bringing aspiring fashion designers from all over the nation to a grand catwalk — now for the 35th year. The designers will have the opportunity to present their pieces to a panel of judges, which will include Deadly Ponies founder and creative director Liam Bowden, Vicki Taylor of Taylor Boutique and Huffer’s Steve Dustan. There is an open category and a school-aged programme, and the option to design haute couture, upcycled garments or evening wear, so a full breadth of designers will be in attendance. The first night will showcase just the fashion design, while the second night will showcase the full gala, with entertainment, judges showcases, competition designers and the awards presentation. The shows will kick off on July 28 and 29 at 7:30pm in the Gore Town & Country Stadium. Tickets are now on sale through iTicket.co.nz.

See a play (or three!)

Q Theatre’s Creative Development Programme, Matchbox, is set to platform three new theatre productions this August-September season.

The first piece to hit the stage will be Rituals of Similarity, a contemporary dance show that explores the intricacies of living as an identical twin. Brittany and Natasha Kohler will explore the complexities of their interlinked identities, self-definition and nature vs nurture in their ‘physical theatre duet’. The show will run from August 1 to 5.

The season will also see new work from award-winning playwright Nathan Joe (Yellow Peril Productions), which is a redevelopment of his very first piece written a decade ago. The play, Losing Face, explores familial ties and reconciliation, with the contemporary story placing its characters in a ‘Groundhog Day’ setting and leaning into the surreal. The piece is directed by Samuel Phillips, assistant director with Auckland Theatre Company, and produced by Nahyeon Lee (in a first under her new company Punctum Productions). Losing Face will run from August 9 to 19.

Theatrical comedy Boom Shankar will return to the stage, with the original showing in 2021 at Basement Theatre having undergone a “rigorous” process of development. The piece explores some of the greatest anxieties of love, life and bomb defusal, through a comical lens. Boom Shankar is written and performed by Aman Bajaj and Bala Murali Shingade, and will run from September 6 to 16.